Press Release
U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report for 2005 Taiwan
PR0525E | Date: 2005-06-04
On June 3, 2005, the United States Department of State released its annual Trafficking in Persons Report.The goal of the report is to stimulate action and create partnerships around the world in the fight against modern-day slavery.
In the report, the Department of State evaluates whether countries are meeting the minimum standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking, as set forth in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2000.
In this year's report, Taiwan received a "Tier 2" placement. "Tier 2" refers to countries that are making significant efforts to meet the minimum standards, but are assessed nonetheless as not fully complying with those minimum standards.
This year's report notes that Taiwan authorities have demonstrated significant progress in their anti-trafficking efforts, but continued improvement in all three areas of protection, prosecution, and prevention will be important in the coming year.
Taiwan is in "Tier 2" because there is insufficient protection for trafficking victims, particularly for women and girls from the P.R.C. Taiwan has no provision of law to protect trafficking victims who cooperate with prosecutors. UN protocol stipulates that part of this protection is making available an alternative to sending them back to countries where they face retribution. Under Taiwan law, all non-Taiwan victims must eventually return home, even the ones who cooperate and who could conceivably face retribution.
For more information, please visit the website of U.S. State Department http://www.state.gov/j/tip for the following documents:
- The complete text of the Taiwan portion of the 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report;
- A detailed description of the U.S. Department of State's "Tier" system;
- A transcript of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's June 3 press conference on the 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report.
For background information: